CHAPTER IV

HITLER AND HUNGARY

This chapter was compiled from the writings of Professor C. A. Macartney,
October Fifteenth, A History of Modern Hungary; from John Flournoy Montgomery,
American Ambassador to Hungary, titled, Hungary, The Unwilling Satellite;
Professor Randolph Braham's work, titled The Politics of Genocide, subtitled,
The Holocaust in Hungary; from the diary of the Italian Foreign Minister, Count
Ciano, from Professor John Lukacs's book, The Duel and from records of the
Nuremberg Trials.

From the time that the Hungarians settled within the Carpathian Basin in 896
A.D., they had a living contact with neighboring Germans. The consequences of
the inner play were based on equality until 1526. In that year the Turks
began the conquest of Hungary and with their success, Hungarian influence
diminished.

After almost 200 years the Turks were forced out of Hungary with German help.
A Hapsburg became the king of Hungary and the southern part of the country
which lost most of its population was repopulated by Germans at the invitation
of the King. These new immigrants had a better understanding of the King who
resided in Vienna than did most Hungarians. They became loyal citizens of the
Hungarian State.

The Vienna Awards

World War I destroyed the Austro-Hungarian monarchy but left the descendants of
those German settlers in place. The majority of them were farmers, some were
professionals and members of the military establishment. One of these
descendants was Gyula Gombos, who became a leading figure of the military group
which opposed the return of the Hapsburg king and helped Admiral Miklos Horthy
to become the Head of State, the Regent of Hungary.

In 1921 Gombos established contacts with a group in Munich, of which Hitler was
also a member. The basis of the cooperation of the two groups was the fact
that both groups wanted to change the dictates of the Versailles Peace Treaty.
The Hungarians were very bitter with the decisions of the Peace Treaty because,
with the creation of two new states (Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia) and the
enlargement of Romania, Hungary's population dwindled from 21,000,000 to
8,000,000 and her territory reduced from 325,000 sq. km. to 92,833 sq. km.
However, it took years until Gombos became a real political force.

At the beginning of post-World War I Hungary, Istvan Bethlen was the Prime
Minister who desperately tried to improve Hungary's relationship with England
and France against the growing German influence. He succeeded in the creation
of the so-called Roman Pact, in which Hungary, Austria and Italy formed a bloc
to resist the influence of both Germany and the anti-Hungarian coalition of
Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

In 1932 Gombos became the Prime Minister and instituted a pro-German
orientation. As soon as Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, Gombos
visited him. At the time of his second visit, he told Goring that within two
years Hungary would have a system similar to that of Germany.

Hitler told Gombos about his ideas of destroying Czechoslovakia and stated also
at that time that Hungary would receive a part of Czechoslovakia, an area where
there was a Hungarian majority. Hitler also promised help in the League of
Nations concerning the rights of minorities. At the same time he opposed the
Hungarian territorial demands against Romania and Yugoslavia. The two men
disagreed concerning Austria's independence and the rearming of Hungary.
Hitler believed that Austria had to be an organic part of Germany and that the
Hungarians were too sanguine to receive more arms. Hitler also felt that all
those who were of German origin and lived outside of the Reich, should have
allegiance to him.

Four years later Gombos died and his promises to Goring were never realized.
After his death Kalman Daranyi became the Prime Minister. Daranyi had never
been a friend of Germany.

During Daranyi's tenure, Hitler made overtures to Yugoslavia and Romania
because he believed that the Yugoslav Army was a real factor of power in the
Balkans and with Romania because he needed her substantial oil reserves. In
securing the latter he promised help to the Romanians against the Hungarian
territorial demands. In that stage of history all neighboring states of
Germany tried to find an accommodation with Hitler's ambitions.

It is an interesting fact that at the time of the Anschluss in March 1938 the
German occupational force stopped at the old Austrian-Hungarian border and for
three full days did not move into the area that had been taken from Hungary and
given to Austria at the time of the Versailles Peace Treaty. Because the
Hungarians did not move in, not wanting to move against a friend, Hitler made
his move.

The arrival of the German Army split the Hungarian population into two camps.
The official political leadership of the country, headed by Regent Horthy, with
the backing of the past Prime Minister, Istvan Bethlen, did not want the
Germans to re-arm Hungary. The other half of the population, the leadership of
the Far Right and the military, being convinced that in case of war the Germans
would win, wanted the rearmament of Hungary and closer ties with Hitler.

After the fall of Kalman Daranyi, Bela Imredy became Prime Minister. At that
point Imredy was still an Anglophile; therefore, the British press was
sympathetic to him.

Hitler was strong enough to interfere more boldly in Hungarian political
events. He financed the purchase of a daily newspaper, Magyarsag, which became
the voice of the Far Right; promoted the National Socialist ideology and helped
the Far Right parties, except the party of Ferenc Szalasi. Szalasi was too
independent to be liked by the Germans. Szalasi's idea of a multinational
Hungarian State was not appreciated by the Hitlerites because they wanted to
have direct contact with each of the small nation states in order to have
complete supremacy over them.

The Germans demanded special privileges for German descendants in Hungary and
because that was resisted by the Hungarians, refused to permit German
participation in the Eucharistic Congress, held in Budapest in 1938. In order
to improve the German-Hungarian relationship a meeting of the two Heads of
State was arranged to take place in Kiel. This meeting was not a success
because, although Horthy admired the new German Navy, he cautioned Hitler
against provoking the British. At the same time the Hungarian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Kalman Kanya, succeeded in gaining the antipathy of
Ribbentrop. The Germans wanted a Hungarian military move against
Czechoslovakia, which was refused by the Hungarians, to the great irritation of
the Germans.

The four-power Agreement of Munich required Hungary and Czechoslovakia to have
a direct discussion to arrive at a solution to solve the Hungarian territorial
demands against Czechoslovakia. This discussion ended in a deadlock.
Therefore, with English and French sanction, arbitration was attempted. The
arbitrators were Ribbentrop and Ciano. Ribbentrop favored the Czechoslovaks
and Count Ciano, the Hungarians. The fact that most of the area with a
Hungarian majority returned to Hungary (First Vienna Award) was greeted with
enthusiasm by the Hungarian masses but the tensions remained between the German
and Hungarian Governments because the award did not include the Hungarian
cities of Pozsony and Nyitra, due to Ribbentrop's veto.

When the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Istvan Csaky, visited
with Hitler, trying to improve the relationship, Hitler angrily recited a long
list of Hungarian provocations against him. Finally, Csaky accepted the German
proposal and agreed to Hungary's joining the Anti-Comintern Pact.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Imredy moved towards a closer friendship with
Germany and to further this political line, created his own party organization.
The German demand for the establishment of a special government agency to
oversee the affairs of the Hungarian subjects of German origin was rejected but
the suggestion of the creation of "Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn," was
accepted. Subsequently, Imredy was forced to resign based on a report that
two of his grandparents were of Jewish origin.

The next Premier was Count Pal Teleki, who was known to be a friend of England.
As soon as he took office the German press reignited their attacks on Hungary.
Hungary was called a feudalistic, antisocial country and oppressor of the
German minorities. In the meantime, the Slovaks declared their independence
from Prague and declared the Slovak State under German protectorate. At that
point the Hungarians demanded that the most eastern province of Czechoslovakia,
which no longer had physical contact with the Czech State, should be freed from
Czech troops. The Czechs complied and subsequently Hungarian troops occupied
the area which, until World War I, had been Hungarian territory. This move was
encouraged by the Poles, who also were desirous to have a common border with
Hungary. This development was not liked by the Germans but it was tolerated.

The new Slovak State was a friend of Germany, but not a friend of Hungary and
came up with territorial demands against Hungary. Many of these demands were
encouraged by the Germans but they were never realized.

The next rift between Hitler's Germany and Hungary occurred in the days prior
to the German attack on Poland. The Germans demanded the use of the Hungarian
railway to transfer German troops to attack Poland from the south. Teleki
rejected this demand and Horthy told the German ambassador that he would sooner
blow up the rail lines than to participate in an attack on Poland. More than
100,000 Polish soldiers and civilians crossed the Hungarian border, evading
German capture and subsequently were treated very well by the Hungarian
people.

Hitler's attack on Poland triggered the Second World War. Hungary was able to
maintain her neutrality. In that time Romania became Hitler's favorite nation
because of her vast oil fields and Yugoslavia was valued because of her strong
army. For the time being the Germans wanted only grain from Hungary and the
uninterrupted free flow of Romanian oil through Hungary. At the same time the
German propaganda managed to deceive the Hungarian press (with a few
exceptions) which became pro-German. By March 1940 the political climate had
changed. Imredy demanded the abolishment of the liberal and Jewish influence
and the National Socialists of Hungary demanded a better understanding of the
"new ideas of the time."

The military success of the German Army in the west impressed the Hungarian
population, especially when they reached Versailles and Trianon, where the
hated peace treaty was signed after World War I. After the French
capitulation, in the Hungarian Parliament demands were made towards a change in
their Cabinet; Teleki offered his resignation but Horthy did not accept it, so
Teleki remained in office.

The Soviets demanded and received from Romania northern Bukovina and
Bessarabia. The Hungarians brought up the question of Transylvania but both
the Germans and the Yugoslavs asked for patience and calm. Both Romania and
Hungary began mobilization and in August 1940 Ciano and Ribbentrop accepted the
responsibility of arbitration between the two nations. As in the previous
arbitration Ciano was pro-Hungarian. In the autumn of 1940, in the so-called
"Second Vienna Award" Hungary received 2/5 of Transylvania inhabited by more
than 2,000,000 Hungarians.

Hungary Enters the War

German demands were attached to the Second Vienna Award: the Hungarian economy
had to be coordinated with the German system; Hungary was required to deliver
the amount of lumber that the Romanians had previously agreed to provide to
Germany and, most importantly, Hungary was forced to join the "Tri-Partite
Pact" created by Germany, Japan and Italy. In quick succession Hungary, the
Slovak Republic and Romania joined the Pact.

Of the signatories Hungary was assured by Ribbentrop that Germany would defend
Hungary against a possible attack from Romania. At the same time the Romanian
Prime Minister, Antonescu, was reassured by Hitler that the decision concerning
Transylvania would be revisited no matter whether Hungary liked it or not.

The Italian attack on Greece and the expected British response suddenly
increased the importance of Yugoslavia. To keep the Yugoslavs on his side
Hitler promoted "Friendship Treaties" between Yugoslavia with her neighbors,
who were already German allies. Both Bulgaria and Hungary signed Friendship
Treaties with Yugoslavia.

In 1941 Hitler's next move to bring Yugoslavia into the Tri-Partite Pact
failed. To the great disappointment of Hitler, after Yugoslavia's Prime
Minister had signed the Tri-Partite Pact, he was overthrown in a military coup
and the new leaders renounced the Pact. Hitler's response was a military
occupation of Yugoslavia. The main thrust came from Bulgaria and the
devastating air attacks against Belgrade were launched from Romanian
airfields.

Hungary's participation was opposed by Prime Minister Teleki and when the
German troops began to be transported through Hungary en route to Yugoslavia,
in a desperate attempt to show his defiance, Teleki committed suicide. The
Hungarians hoped to regain the entire area which was given to Yugoslavia after
World War I but only the area called "Bacska" came back to Hungary. The area
called "Banat," with the cooperation of the Romanians and the German minority,
was not returned to Hungary. As a matter of fact, the German minority
cooperated in closing the Hungarian schools and forbidding Hungarians to listen
openly to Radio Budapest.

When Hitler attacked Soviet Russia, in quick succession Slovakia, Romania and
Hungary entered the war on the German side.

The immediate reason for Hungary's entrance into the war was the aerial
bombardment of the Hungarian city, Kassa. At that time of history the bombing
was blamed on the Soviets and made it easier for Hungary's entrance into the
war.

Although Hungary joined the war against the Soviet Union, under the surface two
factions were on a collision course in Hungary. The military establishment was
convinced that Germany would win the war. Therefore, they urged a sizeable
contribution of military to the effort. The leading politicians were not so
convinced that there would be a German victory and therefore they opposed a
large scale Hungarian participation. The Minister of Defense, Szombathelyi,
suggested to Horthy that the Hungarian Army in Ukraine should be brought home.
The military, under the leadership of the Chief of Staff, Henrik Werth, opposed
it. The Head of State, Horthy, agreed with Szombathelyi and in the beginning
of January 1942 the majority of Hungarian troops came home from the Front to
Hungary proper.

A new chapter opened when in December 1941 Hitler took over the Supreme Command
of the German forces and in January 1942 requested Horthy, in writing, for
greater participation. The first response was negative. Ribbentrop demanded
a total mobilization. A competition to gain the good will of the Germans began
to exist between Hungary and its neighboring states. Finally, the German
demands were partially accepted and a new Hungarian Army 200,000 Hungarian
soldiers and 50,000 Jewish laborers, were sent to the Front in the summer of
1942.

In March 1942 Horthy dismissed the pro-German Prime Minister, Laszlo Bardossy
and appointed Miklos Kallay, of the "Conservative-Liberal" school. After the
Germans were stopped at Stalingrad Kallay realized that the Germans would lose
the war. His belief was reinforced by the fact that the Hungarian Army was
destroyed in the area of Voronezh in January/February 1943, where 100,000
Hungarian soldiers and 25,000 Jewish laborers lost their lives. From that time
on, during his term as Prime Minister, he consistently resisted the German
demands concerning the freedom of the Jews and the freedom of the anti-German
press and leftist political parties. Kallay's beliefs were known by the
Germans and Goebbels, in his diary, remarked the following: "Kallay, the new
Prime Minister, is a known German hater. The young Horthy is the patron of the
Jews and does not want to cooperate with the Axis. Thank God we never had any
illusions about Hungary so there is no disappointment." Hungary's ambassador
to Berlin, Dome Sztojay, suggested to Kallay that he not request an audience
with Hitler because it would be rejected. Meanwhile the Prime Minister of
Romania, Antonescu, had repeated discussions with Hitler, after which Antonescu
publicly attacked Kallay and his policies. At the same time Ribbentrop
expressed his displeasure with Hungary's treatment of the German minorities.
The relationship between Hungary and Romania remained tense and both countries
kept armies on their borders.

The Germans demanded a new policy against the Jews, which Kallay flatly
refused. The result was that in all of Europe the Jewish people had the best
treatment in Hungary until the German occupation, which occurred on March 19,
1944.

Kallay's desperate efforts to find contacts with the Western Allies resulted in
Ribbentrop's dispatch of Dr. Veesenmayer to study and report the situation in
Hungary. Edmund Veesenmayer reported that Horthy was under the influence of a
pro-English group, headed by his former Prime Minister, Istvan Bethlen. He also
mentioned by name the Hungarian Ambassador to Sweden, Ullein-Reviczky, whose
wife was English. Veesenmayer suggested the removal of this group and the
formation of a pro-German group to influence Horthy. Veesenmayer stated that
Horthy's popularity with the Hungarian masses was so great that any change
could be achieved only through him. Based on this report, at the first Schloss
Klessheim meeting in 1943 between Horthy and Hitler, the Fuehrer requested the
removal of Kallay but Horthy rejected this and promised only that he would
discuss the basis of the German demand with Kallay. The official German
communiquJ after the meeting stated the determination of the two Heads of State
to continue the fight against the Soviets and the Western Allies. In the
Hungarian version there is no mention of England and the United States. The
only good result for Hungary was the fact that by the end of May 1943 the
majority of the Hungarian forces had returned to Hungary from the Soviet
Front.

In November 1943 Ribbentrop dispatched Veesenmayer again for further study. At
this time Veesenmayer did contact many pro-German politicians, among them
Imredy, Jaross, Rajniss, Vajna and Baky. The goal was to force the removal of
Kallay and replace him with Imredy. Kallay proved to be a master of intrigue
and managed to keep his office until the second Klessheim meeting between
Horthy and Hitler.

The German military intelligence reported that the Hungarians were expecting
British and American paratroopers and suggested an occupation of Hungary which
would include not only German but Slovak, Romanian and Croatian troops as well.
The plan included Horthy's forceful removal also.

Veesenmayer opposed this plan and suggested a new meeting between Hitler and
Horthy, the replacement of Kallay with Imredy and the occupation of Hungary
with German forces only.

The second Schloss Klessheim meeting was very stormy but at the end Hitler
promised that the occupation would be performed by German troops only and would
be very short lived, if Horthy would remain at his post. That argument
convinced Horthy that his continued presence was preferable to an abdication.

The German Occupation

Horthy's train was held back until the occupation had begun. The subsequent
meetings between Horthy and Veesenmayer were held on Hungarian soil after
Veesenmayer had presented his credentials as the new representative of Germany.
Veesenmayer suggested that Horthy appoint Imredy as the new Prime Minister.
Horthy rejected the suggestion and finally they agreed on the Hungarian
Ambassador to Berlin, Dome Sztojay, to be Prime Minister. The Sztojay Cabinet
was the only Hungarian Cabinet that was willing to execute the German demands
to go forward with the deportation of Jews.

Prime Minister Sztojay held his post from the end of March until the end of
August 1944. The first few days of the German occupation were characterized by
Gestapo activities in the form of arrests of leading leftwing politicians,
Jewish leaders and "enemies of Germany." Prime Minister Kallay accepted the
offer of the Turkish Legation for political asylum. The former Prime Minister,
Bethlen, went into hiding and successfully evaded all German efforts to
apprehend him.

The most important official activity of the Sztojay Cabinet was the execution
of the German demand concerning the deportation of the Jews. The registration,
ghettoization and deportation of the Hungarian Jews were planned by Adolph
Eichmann and executed by officials of the Sztojay government. The basis for
all these activities was the fact that Hitler demanded 100,000 Jewish workers
for the German war industry. The number was increased when it was decided that
the workers could be accompanied by their families. Therefore, the deportees
were labeled as "workers" for the German war industry.

During the deportation the Hungarian officials did not know that the Jewish
deportees were sent to the death camp in Auschwitz rather than to German
factories. This fact was brought to the attention of Horthy at the end of June
by an emissary of the Pope, followed by notes from the King of Sweden,
President Roosevelt and information from the leading officials of Hungarian
Jewry. When Horthy became convinced of the truth about Auschwitz he stopped
the deportations. By that time all Jews with the exception of the Jews living
in Budapest or serving in the Jewish workers units, had been deported. Horthy
stopped the deportation of Jews on the eighth of July, 1944 and he made known
to the Germans that he would resist, if necessary by military means, any
further Jewish deportation.

On August 23 the Romanians changed sides and joined the "winning alliance."
The Hungarian Left and the Anglophiles thought it necessary to follow the same
course. The Military and the Germanophiles favored remaining on the side of
the Germans because in doing so, Hungary would gain the upper hand against her
neighbors in the event that the Germans were victorious.

On August 29, 1944 Horthy appointed a new Cabinet. General Geza Lakatos became
the new Prime Minister and his Cabinet was made up of the military and two
proteges of Veesenmayer, Bela Jurcsek and Lajos Remenyi-Schneller. The Germans
still did not trust Szalasi; therefore, none of his followers became members of
the Cabinet.

Horthy dissolved all political parties and their activities. Szalasi tried to
see Horthy. Veesenmayer was also in favor of such a meeting but Horthy's
antipathy was strong enough to prevent any such meeting.

In the beginning of September Bela Teleki, the leader of the bloc of
Transylvanians in Parliament, visited Horthy and suggested that he conclude an
Armistice Agreement with the Soviets. He also suggested in preparation for
this Agreement, that the Transylvanian leftist leaders should be freed and a
benevolent behavior towards the Romanian population of Transylvania should be
adopted.

On the 14th of September Hitler sent a plane for the Chief of Staff, General
Janos Voros. Voros brought with him a "wish list," including the cessation of
all Gestapo activities in Hungary, the freeing of all Hungarian subjects
apprehended by the Gestapo and informing the Hungarian Cabinet if Germany were
to begin negotiations with enemies of the Reich Hitler expressed great
disappointment with the Hungarians and requested that in the future Hungary
should show her determination for victory with deeds. Hitler also stated that
soon he would release the new weapons that would produce final victory for
Germany.

The German forces, in their retreat from Romania, did not stop at the
Carpathian Mountains but at the line of the Tisza River. The result was that
suddenly there were 500,000 German soldiers present on Hungarian soil, followed
by the Soviets and Romanian forces.

During the month of September Horthy tried to contact the Western Allies in
order to offer Hungary's unconditional surrender. He was rebuffed repeatedly
and also told that Hungary must surrender to the Soviet Union. At the end of
September Horthy called a secret meeting in which Prime Minister Lakatos and
two cabinet members were included. Also present were the Chief of Staff,
General Voros; past Prime Ministers, Istvan Bethlen and Gyula Karolyi; former
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Kalman Kanya and Count Maurice Esterhazy. Horthy
told them about his decision to surrender to the Soviet Union. His decision
was endorsed by all present.

At the same time the Minister of Defense, with the blessing of Horthy,
requested the Germans to send a new force of five armored divisions within
twentyfour hours; otherwise Hungary would be forced to surrender. To the
surprise of all involved the Germans did send in four divisions within the time
limit.

On October 1, 1944 Horthy dispatched General S. Faragho and the son of the late
Prime Minister, Geza Teleki, to Moscow. The envoys reached Moscow, Molotov
granted them an audience and stated the Soviet demands:

(a) the withdrawal of all Hungarian troops to the 1938 Hungarian
borders;

(b) the Hungarians cease all military resistance to the Soviets;

(c) Hungary to declare war on Germany.

These demands were forwarded to Horthy and he initialed the documents.

Horthy appointed General Szilard Bakay to prepare his military for the
surrender and ordered the arrest of Szalasi. He also arranged a meeting with
the leaders of the Left. Horthy's plans were negated when unknown persons
kidnapped Bakay and Veesenmayer arranged German protection against the arrest
of Szalasi.

Both sides were involved in a double play. The Hungarians reassured the
Germans and at the same time contacted the Soviets. The Germans reassured
Horthy and Voros and simultaneously were planning with Szalasi for Horthy's
removal. Veesenmayer forwarded Szalasi's memo to Hitler, in which,

(a) Szalasi demanded that Hitler accept him as the sole spokesman for
Hungary;

(b) Hitler accept Hungary as a sovereign state;

(c) Hitler defend Hungary with the same force as he would Prussia.

Hitler accepted Szalasi's demands. Veesenmayer agreed with Szalasi on the
creation of a new broadbased rightist Cabinet which would include seven Party
Members, two Generals and other rightist elements.

October 15, 1944

By the 14th of October both sides had completed their plans. The Germans, to
strengthen their political influence, transferred Rahn, who had been the German
ambassador to Italy, to Hungary. To fortify the military might, General von dem
Bach was moved from Warsaw to Budapest, along with 42 Tiger tanks. Skorzeny,
with the same paratroopers who had freed Mussolini from his detention, was
also made available.

Horthy moved the only available small Hungarian unit which was stationed in
Budapest to defend Castle Hill. The commanding Generals of the First and
Second Armies were ordered to stop all resistance at the time his call for
armistice would be broadcast through Radio Budapest.

On the morning of October 15th Horthy informed the Crown Council of his
decision and requested Veesenmayer to see him at noon. On the same morning the
son of Horthy, Miklos, Jr., left Castle Hill to meet Tito's envoy and was
abducted en route by Skorzeny. During his meeting with Veesenmayer Horthy's
declaration for armistice was announced through Radio Budapest. The call for
armistice came as a real surprise for the Hungarian masses and the army itself.
Emil Kovarcz, who captured Radio Budapest with his commandos, made it possible
to publish General Voros's order to the army which, in effect, counteracted
Horthy's "cease fighting" order. The result was that although the commanding
generals of the Hungarian Army went over to the Soviets, the army itself
continued to fight.

In the confusion Prime Minister Lakatos met with Veesenmayer and requested the
release of Horthy, Jr. and General Bakay. He also stated that because the
Hungarian Army continued the resistance against the Soviets, in spite of the
Armistice Order, the Germans could withdraw to Hungary's western border.
Veesenmayer did not accept this suggestion. The person who unwillingly gave
ammunition to Veesenmayer in his argument with Lakatos was the Commander of the
Guards, Lazar, who, following the order of Horthy, mined and barricaded all the
roads to Castle Hill. Per order of the German High Command, Skorzeny moved
against the Hungarian defenders and captured Horthy and his family.
Veesenmayer repeatedly visited Horthy. When Veesenmayer promised that Horthy,
Jr., would be freed, reunited with his family and transferred to Germany,
Horthy signed two documents. In the first document he retracted his armistice
order; in the second he appointed Szalasi as his successor. The Parliament
confirmed the validity of Horthy's signature and Szalasi became legally the new
leader of the nation.

The Germans wanted to restart the deportation of the Jews but Szalasi refused.
Hitler wanted to have 50,000 Jewish workers to build the eastern wall in
defense of Austria. Szalasi promised 25,000, under Hungarian supervision only
and to be utilized on the Hungarian side of the border. Under German pressure
this number was increased and the march towards Austria degenerated into an
inhuman process.

Szalasi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron Gabor Kemeny and the Minister
of Defense, H. Beregffy, visited Hitler on December 4, 1944. Szalasi wanted to
have Budapest declared to be an "open city." Hitler disagreed and demanded the
defense of Budapest until spring of 1945 when he would begin the new German
offensive with the help of the "secret weapons" which would end the war with a
German victory.

Following the meeting Hitler permitted the entry of all Hungarian refugees into
Germany and more than one million Hungarians crossed the Hungarian/Austrian
border.

Budapest was defended by 70,000 German and Hungarian soldiers. The Soviets
succeeded the encirclement of the city on December 24, 1944. The city fell 52
days later. The remainder of Hungary fell to the Soviets by April 4, 1945.

Epilogue

The leadership of Nazi Germany was tried in Nuremberg, Germany. In the
proceeding it was never mentioned that Stalin cooperated with Hitler in the
dismemberment of Poland and through the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact made it
possible for Hitler to overrun France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and
Norway.

In Nuremberg Horthy was not on trial and was called only as a witness.
Veesenmayer was sentenced to a jail term.

There have been many books published in Hungary during the last fifty years,
identifying who resisted the Germans. The truth is that the real resisters
were the friends of England: Horthy, Bethlen, Teleki, Kallay and members of
their cabinets. This fact could not be mentioned in Hungary for decades
because they resisted not only the Germans but the Soviets also.